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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26218093">Pulling You Closer</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kal_thas/pseuds/Kal_thas'>Kal_thas</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>World of Warcraft</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Fluff, M/M, Red String of Fate, Self-Doubt, no betas we die like men</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 09:35:51</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,200</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26218093</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kal_thas/pseuds/Kal_thas</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>honestly, this was based off a meme and became a kinda cute story, if I'm to be believed</p><p>*Tumblr user AdamPrvrrish: I wish I could touch my red string of fate, Im about to start yanking this motherfucker towards me<br/>Tumblr user elegantlypractical: oh fuck, is this why Im so goddamn clumsy? my soulmate is being aN IMPATIENT BITCH?*</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Flynn Fairwind/Mathias Shaw, female oc/female oc (mentioned)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>46</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Pulling You Closer</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Shaw grew up believing that his red string of fate was important, near-sacred. He wasn't supposed to touch the string too often, something about "all in due time". Pulling or tugging it could hurt his soulmate. Or at least that's what his grandmother had told him.</p><p>Flynn didn't have that knowledge.</p><p>He grew up only knowing that the red string around his pinky connected him to his soulmate. No superstitions about pulling it, no warning grandparents, just him and a red string.</p><p>When Flynn was about 11, he thought about what could possibly go wrong if he pulled the string. All he could figure was 'they'll be closer to me, and I'll have a new friend'</p><p>Needless to say, he grasped onto the string and tugged with all his might. </p><p>Flynn tumbled into a barrel of fish, which was thankfully shut tightly. </p><p>Well, no cosmic sirens, no titans or gods raining down upon him, but also no soulmate in sight. Flynn gave another small tug to the line before letting it go.</p><p>Over in the Eastern Kingdoms, Mathias was drilling attacks. His grandmother stood off to the side, watching with sharp eyes, barking out orders.</p><p>"Alright Mathias," she said, watching the sweat drip off the young teen's brow, "Take a moment. Put your daggers away, we'll work on hand to hand in a moment."</p><p>Mathias nodded, sheathing his knives and walking to the water jug. For a moment he just stood next to it, hands on his knees and steadying his breathing.</p><p>His hand shot off to the side, pulling him off balance and tossing him to the ground. He groaned as pain blossomed on the side of his hip.</p><p>"Mathias?"</p><p>Another, weaker tug came from the string, just enough that Mathias knew where it came from. </p><p>Pathonia stood next to him, looking him over curiously.</p><p>"They pulled on it, they must've." He said, holding his hand up.</p><p>For a moment, his grandmother seemed surprised, an uncommon look for her. She shook her head, schooling her face into a disbelieving frown. "Now, Mathias, why would they do that. I'm sure everyone from here to Kalimdor knows not to touch the string."</p><p>Mathias looked down to his hand, now fallen to his lap. "Yeah" he trailed off.</p><p>She held out a hand, helping the boy up, brows furrowing in concern when Mathias favoured one leg more than the other. Pathonia caught his shoulder, giving him a kind look, "Come on kid, let's go find something to eat."</p><p>Mathias nodded, and she continued, "You did good today, heard there was a new ice cream place opening up, we can head there after."</p><p>.</p><p>.</p><p>As it turned out, Flynn never did learn his lesson. Every so often he'd tug on the string, sometimes a little rougher than necessary, but that was neither here nor there.</p><p>Shaw fell out of trees far more often than he'd like to admit. Beyond giving scrapes and bruises, it was great entertainment for anyone who happened to pass by. </p><p>Pathonia saw it as a way to better Mathias' training. If the kid could stay hidden whilst being pulled across the ground, he'd be the best spy Stormwind had ever seen. If only she could get that damn soulmate to pull on command.</p><p>.</p><p>.</p><p>He was working on a pirate crew now. It really wasn't his first choice, nor was it actually his choice at all. Death or piracy, really not very good options there, but all things considered, not the worst thing he'd ever done. </p><p>It was a nice day, the wind was cool but the sun warm, the sea churned lazily below. Flynn sat on the mast beam, partially enjoying the day, but also scanning the seas. In the distance, he could see Freehold fading in, the air around it foggy as ever. He twirled the string between his fingers, smiling softly.</p><p>He climbed down the post as Freehold drew closer. A splinter caught the string, pulling on it.</p><p>Flynn sighed, pulling on the string, trying to get it unhooked. Tides, it wasn't moving. A sharp tug from the other end caught him off guard. 'Huh, so there actually is someone on the other side' Flynn thought to himself, reaching up and trying to unhook the string with another tug.</p><p>.</p><p>On the Broken Shore, Shaw sat on a cliff, watching the demons down below. He was pressed against the wall, watching and listening from the shadows. A small tug caught on his hand.</p><p>Light, not right now, don't do something stupid right now.</p><p>He clenched his arm, holding it against his chest with his other hand. A sharper pull nearly pushed him off balance. Shaw pulled his hand back, feeling the string grow taut when he did so. Even with his grandmother's warnings, it felt a little nice to get a bit of revenge in the moment.</p><p>All the tension fell from the string, and he relaxed. </p><p>Too soon.</p><p>A sharp pull sent him off balance, careening off the short cliff. His fingers gripped uselessly at broken rocks, and his back met with the stone ground with a heavy thud. Two felguards looked down at him, grinning. Shaw tried to stand, hell, even just move, but his back burned in pain, his ribs protesting even breathing.</p><p>Demonic hands closed in around him, and all he could do was writhe on the ground.</p><p>.</p><p>.</p><p>The Dreadlord had come in, laughing hollowly at the human. Detheroc, he was called. Shaw watched in horror as the demon turned into a copy of himself. He wanted to get out of the small cell he'd been tossed in, he wanted to fight. Who knew what could happen if this Light forsaken demon got in the Keep. Light, what if he got to Anduin. No, no, that couldn't happen, Shaw couldn't let that happen.</p><p>But what could he do?</p><p>Detheroc walked freely from the cave, changed into a perfect copy of himself. Shaw was caged up, with probably at least one broken rib, and bruises from hell and back.</p><p>A soft tug came from the string, and Shaw damn near snarled at it, grasping it tightly and pulling, much like his soulmate had been doing for the past several years. They had gotten him into this mess, the bastard, they hadn't even met yet.</p><p>They hadn't even met yet.</p><p>The anger bled from him as quickly as it arrived. Shaw pulled lightly on the string three times, a desperate attempt to tell whoever it was that he loved them. Who knew if he'd- when he'd get out of there. Three tentative, soft pulls came from the string.</p><p>.</p><p>.</p><p>Flynn had been toying with the string when it suddenly sent him stumbling forward. His heart lept, <br/> His palm clasped around the string, feeling three shaky pulls. How badly were they shaking, if he could feel it. Flynn repeated the action, softer, and hopefully reassuring.</p><p>.</p><p>.</p><p>Detheroc walked through the Keep, brows furrowing as he noticed the guards staring at him oddly. Could they already tell? No, no, that was impossible, they couldn't know, he was a master of deception, there was no way that he could have been discovered already. But they stared as if his wings had unfurled behind him, as if he'd sprouted horns and sharp claws. </p><p>It was unnerving, to say the least.</p><p>These petty little mortals couldn't know he was a demon, it was far too early for them to know. This was not in the master's plan.</p><p>A brunette woman lightly grasped onto his arm, turning his attention. She looked concerned, he recognized her as Amber Kearen, an Si:7 Operative.</p><p>"Shaw?" she said softly, "Are you alright?"</p><p>"Yes?" he tilted his head questioningly, "Why wouldn't I be?"</p><p>She rubbed his arm sympathetically, "Well, your soulmate, they haven't seemed to be in contact with you anymore…"</p><p>Detheroc nodded somberly, patting her hand. "Yes, I- I haven't heard anything from them in a while, it's been strange."</p><p>Amber nodded and turned down the hall. </p><p>.</p><p>.</p><p>Months passed, and Detheroc couldn't have been more confused. The humans were strange, he'd had taken up throwing himself to the ground, stumbling, and throwing out his hand like a crazed man. The other humans had stopped giving weird looks, and now only gave him pity glances when he fell to the ground. </p><p>Every once in awhile he could overhear the guards talking, they'd speak about the spymaster. "Maybe it's his way of grieving, I haven't seen him stumble accidentally in months." They trailed off, and another guard piped up, "He's always had them, maybe he's doing this because he can't feel them anymore."</p><p>.</p><p>.</p><p>On the Broken Shore, Mathias would pull softly on the string, a much needed reminder of what all was out there. What he still needed to live for. Needed to survive for. </p><p>He felt a soft tug from the other side, and a tired smile wormed its way onto his face. They had stopped yanking as aggressively on the string, which thankfully didn't send him into the bars of the cage. </p><p>Voices echoed off the halls, and Shaw tucked himself down as well as he could. His muscles cried out as he tried to fold himself down, out of sight of whatever new demon wandered down the hall.</p><p>"Are you sure this is where he went missing?" he heard. Could it actually be a champion? A small blood elf blended in with the shadows, accompanied by a human paladin. Well then, the factions seem to be getting along, though, he supposed, they have to if they want to survive this. </p><p>He sat up, making a small grunt of pain, drawing the attention of the two. The blood elf smiled and made quick work of the locks. She pulled a face when she realized the state he was in, quickly calling the other woman over. The paladin removed her gauntlet and ran her hand over his bruises, Shaw could feel the Light invading his bones, setting them and binding his wounds.</p><p>"Who-" he gasped as the paladin dug into a wound he knew had gotten infected, "are you?"</p><p>The paladin grimaced as she looked over the slowly oozing wound. "I'm Cosain, Highlord of the Silver Hand." She looked over to the rogue now standing watch, "She is Leidr, Shadowblade of the Uncrowned, though I'm sure you'll be seeing quite a bit more of her."</p><p>They turned to one another, nodding before the blood elf picked him up with ease. Was he really that light now?</p><p>"Spymaster," Cosain spoke, "are you able to stealth with the Shadowblade?" She smiled at the blood elf, who rolled her eyes at the title. </p><p>"I-" he winced as he shifted, "I believe I can."</p><p>She nodded, a soft clang resounded as she readied her sword and shield, and turned to the mouth of the cave.</p><p>"Highlord?" the blood elf said, though the title didn't seem to annoy the paladin as much the rogue. "Cosain, dear, I won't be able to help you once we're out there."</p><p>Cosain turned, a soft smile, "I know, it's fine, you keep him safe. You think I haven't faced a few demons before?"</p><p>Leidr sighed before stealthing, prompting Shaw to follow along.</p><p>.</p><p>.</p><p>.</p><p>Boralus was one hell of a place. The merchants would shout out at passing people. Mercenaries running past on their mounts. Stray too far one direction and doomsayers would yell out foreboding omens, go too far another way and hangings would be taking place. </p><p>Shaw found that his luck with his soulmate had taken a turn back, and they were back at tugging and pulling on the string at the most inconvenient times.</p><p>He'd walk down the streets and find himself tumbling into an alleyway, a trash can, a passing guard, anything that happened to be in the way. </p><p>Shaw found himself wrapped around the mast at dusk, watching the fading light across the ocean. It was usually fairly calm in the evening, until nightfall, and they would pull at the string once. He assumed it was a nightly ritual, a just before bed kind of thing.</p><p>His hands loosened from their grip, stretching out to his sides. The wind whipped at his ginger hair, bright and salty over the ocean. A sudden pull sent him falling back, tumbling off the post, watching the wooden boards draw closer. A faint glow surrounded his vision, and somehow the slam into the ground didn't hurt.</p><p>Oh, thank the Light for paladins and their blessings.</p><p>Shaw rolled over to his back. "Thank you, Halford." </p><p>The paladin scoffed, "You know, Spymaster, you really should be more careful."</p><p>"Yes, yes, I know, my soulmate seems to enjoy getting me in trouble though."</p><p>Halford laughed sharply, "I'll say."</p><p>.</p><p>.</p><p>Flynn, for as much as people would disagree, wasn't a stupid man. He might act like it sometimes, and well, yeah, sometimes he makes bad decisions, but that wasn't reflective of his skills. Soon after the Alliance landed in Boralus, he'd found that the Spymaster was incredibly clumsy, which didn't seem fitting to his job, so of course, he had to look into it. He quickly found that well, he was the source of all of Shaw's clumsy accidents.</p><p>Honestly, Flynn would've felt a lot worse about it if Shaw wasn't such a prick when they first met.</p><p>It did make him think about how many accidents Shaw might've gotten into because of him. Hm, well, that made him feel a little worse. Flynn supposes that's only fair.</p><p>He watched as the Spymaster sat in a briefing with Halford Wyrmbane. Quite the stick in the mud, that one, never down for anything fun. </p><p>Flynn wasn't spying on his soulmate, no, no he'd never do that, he's respectful of course, he simply needed to learn more about the man. He gave three soft tugs to the string and watched as Shaw looked to his hand, it seemed almost fond.</p><p>Flynn's heart sank a little as he remembered how much Shaw seemed to dislike him. </p><p>How nice would it be, to have the Spymaster look at him in such a way, to be able to make him blush and smile. Now though, now Shaw only looked at him when giving a briefing, when making Flynn promise to follow the rules and not misbehave like a child. Now he only gave stern looks. Flynn couldn't help but hope that the rogue might see him differently.</p><p>For now, though, he'd find some small entertainment from messing with him.</p><p>He turned away from the porthole and gathered the papers and reports scattered across his desk. Hopefully, Cyrus was still in his office and didn't already head out for drinks.</p><p>As Flynn walked out of the Harbormaster's Office, approximately 12 pounds of paper lighter, he saw Shaw walking off the dock of the </p><p> </p><p>Now, was his idea a bit mean? Yes, but it was bound to be entertaining.</p><p>Flynn gave a hearty pull to his end of the string, watching as Shaw tripped over his own feet and found himself in the water. </p><p>He might've laughed a bit too hard, in all honesty, as Mathias bobbed in the water. He gave a sharp glare, trying to grasp onto the too slick stones around the harbour.</p><p>"Fairwind, a hand if you will?"</p><p>Flynn straightened up, "Of course Mattie, quite the luck you have there mate." He said, smiling at him.</p><p>Shaw would've blushed at the smile if he wasn't already pink from the cold water. His little infatuation with the Captain truly wasn't appropriate, they worked together for Light's sake. He shook his head, reaching out his palm.</p><p>Flynn connected their hands before he could really think about it. He felt the string grow taught as he pulled Shaw from the water.</p><p>Mathias looked down, staring at their clasped hands.</p><p>"It was- it's you?" </p><p>Flynn pulled away, disconnecting their hands and muttering out an excuse, an apology, anything to be able to get away. He quickly made his way back to his ship. By the tides, there was no way that Mathias would look at him that way, if he'd even look at him again. What had he done? How could he be so stupid?</p><p>He paced his cabin, the ship itself was thankfully empty, the entire crew out for drinks or visiting family. Flynn stopped for a moment, staring at the empty glass on his table. He shook his head,  turning to the door, reaching out to the handle.</p><p>What would he even say?</p><p>"Sorry! I'm your soulmate! I'm also the person you get annoyed with the most! and I've probably made your life hell because of my insistence on pulling on this damn string! Sorry about that!"</p><p>He wanted to play with the string, it had become a small comfort. To twist it between his fingers, worry at it, never have to worry about it fraying, or him being truly alone.</p><p>Now what? He'd gone and put it all out there, from one thoughtless action.</p><p>He slumped down in a chair, thumbs tapping at the worn wood of his desk. Well, a drink wouldn't hurt, just to clear his head.</p><p>Three small taps pulled on his pinky as he tipped back the glass. It filled him with something he couldn't quite identify, but he found himself pouring another before he could really even think about it.</p><p>.</p><p>.</p><p>Shaw was hauled out of the water and felt the familiar tug on the string when Flynn connected their hands. It sent nerves through him, much like it did when he was young.</p><p>This was him? It actually was? </p><p>He stared down at their hands, unbelieving for a moment.</p><p>He'd always believed that Flynn would've never seen him in that light, and yet?</p><p>Flynn disconnected their hands. He seemed shocked, maybe scared? Did he really dislike Shaw that much? Had Shaw been too harsh on him?</p><p>Mathias watched as Flynn stumbled off to his boat.</p><p>What had he done? </p><p>.</p><p>.</p><p>Flynn's end of the line was quiet for days, and by some unnatural force, Shaw barely caught glances of the captain in passing. He'd only managed to corner him with help from Cyrus and Taelia, which honestly impressed Shaw a bit. Boralus wasn't a large city, not anything like Stormwind, and yet Flynn had been elusive to Si:7's finest, even while half-drunk and stumbling.</p><p>"Flynn," He started, quite literally cornering the pirate, "it's, it's you, right?"</p><p>Flynn looked around, never quite meeting his eyes, "I'm not quite sure I understand, mate." he gave a short laugh, hollow and uncomfortable.</p><p>Shaw reached out his hand, connecting it with Flynn's. He gave a small smile when the string tightened for a moment.</p><p>"I," his voice was quiet, "I thought you wouldn't want me to be your soulmate. I'd known, but I couldn't- I was afraid Mattie."</p><p>He looked up for a moment, concern lacing his face before he stood up taller, pressing a short kiss to Flynn's lips. "You absolute fool."</p><p>Flynn blushed, looking down, a small "oh" made it's way out. Shaw laughed at it, dropping his forehead against Flynn's shoulder.</p><p>"We aren't all that great at this kinda stuff, huh?" Shaw could feel Flynn's words through his chest.</p><p>"No, no we really aren't"</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>the highlord and shadowblade are two of my characters, and theyre fools and in love, thank you, that is all</p></blockquote></div></div>
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